Everyday Combat
by Becks Rylynn
Summary: everything and in between universe. Ben is caught between a Demon and an Angel....and his arm is really starting to hurt.


_AN: So, yeah, there is a good reason why the latest chapter of Playing Matchmaker has been so late, but I won't bore you all with it. To make it up to you, I give you this short 'everything and in between' universe oneshot that takes place somewhere in season four (with of course, the blonde Ruby and Ben) as a promise that the 'eaib' universe will go on and the next chapter of PM should be up....eventually. I swiped the title from the song of the same name by Lostprophets_

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or any of the characters.

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**Everyday Combat**

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_Written by Becks Rylynn_

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''Would you let go? He's coming with _me_.''

''He needs to be _resting_.''

''What are you? His father?''

''I am simply looking out for his well being.''

''Well, stop it.''

''You are not his mother, _Ruby._''

''I am aware of that, _Castiel._''

Eyes dilated black, Ruby stood in the parking lot of a motel, her hand desperately gripping the arm of Ben Winchester as she glared steadily at _Angelboy _in front of her. On the other side of Ben, holding tightly to Ben's other arm, Castiel stood, jaw twitching as he undoubtedly tried to control the frustration seeping into his borrowed veins. Currently in the middle of a game of human tug of war, Ben pushed back a wince. Much to his surprise, Castiel had quite a strong grip and Ruby had really sharp nails. ''You guys,'' he whined when he felt another pull on his arm. ''I would like to keep both of my arms if you don't mind.''

Ruby shot Ben a look and her glare turned from menacing to deadly as she stepped forwards, her voice lowering into a snarl. ''Let _go_, you winged freak.''

''Absolutely not, you black eyed annoyance. He's _sick_. He should be in bed. You are not taking him out of this motel.''

''Watch me.''

Ruby had a soft spot, there was no denying that. She loved Ben Winchester like he was her own kid, Sam Winchester was her best friend and everyone could see she was hopelessly in love with Dean Winchester. But Castiel? He was just not on her list of people to be nice to. In fact, she was pretty sure she hated the friggin' angel. With a _passion._

Castiel did not - for lack of a better term - care for Ruby. Like...at all. She was annoying, she was sarcastic, she was a pain in the ass, she always got in his way and oh yeah, there was the small matter of the black eyes and the darkness running through her blood. As a general rule, angels did not get along with demons.

But seriously.....

.....Ruby and Castiel's constant fighting (not flirty bickering like she did with Dean, this was all out war) was getting annoying. Really annoying. Really. Around their insults and cheap shots, Dean was beginning to look aged and worn, Sam always had a headache from rolling his eyes and Ben....well, Ben was just plain fed up. This little display of _affection_ was not helping. He was feverish, tired and his arms were sore.

''Guys - ''

''Just a minute, Ben,'' Ruby interrupted, sending the boy a caring smile before lifting her eyes to the angel once again. ''I swear to God if you don't let go of him, I'll send you back to your cloud.''

Castiel sneered (who the hell taught this dude to _sneer_?) and tilted his head to the side. ''And what makes you think you have the right to swear to God, _demon_?''

Her lips twitched and she let a small smirk dance across her lips as she looked at him closely. Only it wasn't the usual smirk she wore, this one promised she was about to say something incredibly _rude._

Ben sighed.

''You're not as _good_ as you like people to think, are you?''

Something in her eyes and the way she smirked got to him and he scowled and let go of Ben's arm at the same time she did. Oh dear. Ben almost wished they were still arguing over him. This was about to get real bad. Desperately, he glanced towards the road. Where the hell was Dean? Not that he would do much good. He never knew whose side to take when these fights broke out.

The angel took a breath and shrugged carelessly, letting her comment roll off him. ''At least _I'm_ not afraid of what's inside.''

''Well, at least I don't wear the same fucking outfit every day. I mean, come on, _Cas_,'' she practically spit out the nickname as she began to circle him. No, really, this wasn't good. There was violence in the air. ''Can't you at least ditch the stupid ass trench coat?''

He blinked at her and his eyes hardened. Was he actually offended by that? ''I believe that was uncalled for.''

''You know nothing about fashion.''

''You really did turn into a real girl, didn't you?'' This time, he was the one to smirk as he reached out and gripped her arms tightly, ignoring her squirming. ''Almost like a real human.''

Ben watched as Ruby's eyes darkened to black once again and she looked ready to kill. He sucked in a breath and covered his eyes, peeking out anxiously. ''Come on, Dad, where are you?''

''Tell me, _Ruby _- ''

And did they always have to say each other's names with such exaggeration?

'' - How does it feel to _remember_?''

Oh.

Snap.

That was a low blow and Ben let out a noise between a sigh and a groan as he shook his head. Yeah, about to get real bad, folks.

Growling low in her throat, Ruby gave up on verbal attacks and went straight for the physical. With ease, she tugged her arms out of his grasp....and lunged. The force of her body knocking into his sent them both tumbling to the ground. He tried not to fight back, he really did. He didn't like violence, but....her hands were clawing and slapping and _pulling his hair_ and in the end, he had no choice. He _had_ to.

''Oh my effing God!'' Ben cried, eyes wide. ''Are you two insane?!''

They both paused momentarily and turned to face him, their faces confused and slightly disturbed. ''Ben,'' Ruby finally said. ''Have you been watching Gossip Girl again?''

Castiel wrinkled his nose in disgust. ''That show has to be some sort of sin.'' A sharp slap to the face shut him up for a second as a glare worked its way across his face. ''I strongly dislike you.''

She grinned, ''That's called _hate,_ wings.''

And then they were rolling around on the ground fists flying wildly, yelps sounding through the air. They were both strong, they both had the potential to do some serious damage to each other, but all they were managing to do was look incredibly pathetic and absurd. What kind of self respecting demon (or angel) fought like...that? Were they actually having a _slap fight?_

Oh boy.

''It's worse than I thought.''

The sound of thunder sounded in the distance and Ben sighed, zipping up his jacket and preparing for rain before he realized that was not thunder. That was - ''Dad.'' He let out a sigh of relief and licked his dry lips. ''Finally.''

The shiny black car pulled into the parking lot and swung into a parking spot. Immediately the doors were wrenched open and Dean's voice filtered through the air. ''_This_ is what you two call babysitting?!''

Sam blinked and Ben could see the smile slowly stretching across his face. ''Are they....having a slap fight?''

''Oh yeah.'' Ben nodded and crossed his arms. ''Wish I had some popcorn.'' The two stood side by side for a moment and watched as Dean rushed forwards and attempted to separate the feuding angel and demon. Unfortunately, instead he was pulling into the fray. ''Oh.'' Ben winced. ''That had to hurt.''

''Might leave a mark,'' Sam agreed.

''Hello!'' Dean's angry green eyes lifted to his brother. ''Sam! Would you get over here!''

''Oh. Right.''

It took a few moments of screeching and hits (and was Castiel actually trying to egg Ruby on?) before Dean and Sam finally managed to separate them. In response to Dean lifting her off the angel, Ruby growled. Her growl was rewarded with a sharp snap of, ''Watch you you're growling at, Cujo.'' When Castiel and Ruby had calmed down and weren't trying to free themselves of Winchester grips to lunge at each other, Dean took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. ''All right. Now...can somebody please explain to me _what the hell _just happened?! What were you fighting over?''

''Well,'' Ben spoke up. ''They started out fighting over me. And then somethin' happened and long story short she ended up on top of him. Oh.'' He grinned and snapped his fingers. ''Dirty.''

''Dean!'' Ruby's shriek was loud and sent Dean stumbling away from her, grimacing at the volume. Her hair was disheveled, her breathing was erratic and she looked freaking pissed off. ''He was...He was.....He's insufferable!'' For emphasis, she stomped her foot and turned demanding eyes to Dean. ''Do something!''

''Dean,'' Castiel said calmly. ''Control your woman.''

''She's not my - ''

''Oh, don't even go there,'' Ruby threatened, pointing a finger at Castiel. ''You stupid, self righteous.....angel!''

''Get your finger out of my face, blondie.''

''Dumbass!''

''Wretched woman!''

''Yowzer,'' Ben muttered under his breath.

''Whoa!'' Growing increasingly fed up, Dean stepped in between them and tried to keep his cool. ''Would you both just cool off? You are really starting to get on my nerves.'' They silenced and Dean let out a breath, resisting the urge to smirk in triumph. ''Now,'' he began, calmly.

Ruby narrowed her eyes at his tone. Oh, now he was using his Daddy Voice on them. What were they? Children?

Well....

''It looks like you're both here to stay, so you're going to have to learn to get along.''

''Why should we?'' Ruby snapped. ''We don't like each other.''

''Can't you at least be civil?''

''Why?''

_''Because if you're not I'll shoot you both!''_

Dean's outburst earned a raised eyebrow from Sam and Ben and both Castiel and Ruby took a small step away from him. He was a little trigger happy. Better safe than sorry. The elder Winchester smirked dryly at their responses. ''I'm sorry, was that out of line? Was that....Was that _annoying_?! Was that disturbing and awkward? Did it make you uncomfortable?!''

''Dad,'' Ben stage whispered. ''Dad, I think you're losing it.''

''Look, Dean,'' Ruby sighed and took a deep breath. ''We're never going to get along and I can't promise we'll be civil. He's insipid.''

''She's rude and insensitive.''

''He's an emotionless bastard.''

''I don't know,'' Sam piped up, helpfully. ''I think he's got some emotions. After all, he's pretty angry.''

Castiel shot him a look. ''I'm standing right here.''

''Okay.'' Much to everyone's surprise, Ruby laughed. Like actually laughed. For a long time. Until the men grew a little uncomfortable. When she finally sobered, she shook her head and drew in a breath. ''Know what? I'm done with this. I'm tired and sore and I think one of my heels is broken. Which, if it is,'' she looked at Castiel. ''You owe me a pair of shoes. So...'' She turned to Dean. ''...I'm going to make like Goldilocks and go steal your bed.''

They watched as she turned and started to stalk away. However, at the last minute, she turned, walked back to them and punched Castiel. Hard. Hard enough to send him stumbling backwards. ''In case you're still wondering,'' she breathed. ''Remembering sucks.''

And then she walked away. The loud slam of the door slamming had Dean grimacing because he knew he was going to have to deal with that for days.

Castiel rubbed his aching jaw, sent Dean a look that clearly said _you'd better do something about her or I will_ and then he turned and stomped away into the darkness.

For a moment, Dean remained locked in place, mouth open. With a heavy breath, he groaned and looked back and forth between the motel door and the angel's retreating back. Slowly, he turned his gaze to his brother and son and sent them a pleading look. ''Which one am I supposed to go after?''

Ben shook his head and sighed.

Grown ups were so dumb.

And apparently quite violent.

**end**

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End file.
